The issue obscured by the Obama Mandate

By Tom Quiner

President Obama has declared war on the Catholic Church.

He has awoken a sleeping giant.

The Catholic Church is ready to go to war with the administration over its mandate requiring faith-based hospitals (like Mercy Hospital here in Des Moines), schools (like Dowling Catholic High School here in Des Moines), and charities (like Catholic Charities) to provide “free” sterilization, abortifacients, and contraception to their employees in their health insurance plans.

I’m not going to talk about this overt assault on our First Amendment right to freedom of religion. I already have. Others are talking about this right now.  We’re going to be talking about this as long as Mr. Obama occupies the White House.

I’d like to address the economic damage of the Obama Mandate. Someone has to pay for the sterilizations, the abortifacients, the contraception.

As Milton Friedman has famously said, “there is no free lunch.”

The employer is going to pay. And when employers pay, employees pay one way or another, either with lower salaries or layoffs.

When employees get laid off, the government loses tax receipts and ends up paying out more in welfare benefits.

Did you watch television last night? If you did, I bet you saw commercials for Geico, Progressive, and State Farm peddling low car insurance rates.

Did you ever wonder why you don’t see the same market dynamic with health insurance?

There is a one word answer: government.

Government (tax payers) now pay for over half the health care in this country, a major disruption to the market place.

Unlike auto insurance, government prevents interstate commerce of health insurance.

In addition to Obama Mandates, individual state legislatures impose their own mandates on the health insurance companies captive to their state.

Each mandate increases the cost of the product. Consumers have to pay for the mandate whether they want it or not.

We don’t see this type of government interference with auto insurance. As a result, consumers enjoy a competitive marketplace where they can purchase products tailored to their needs.

It is the so-called do-gooders in our state legislatures and in the White House who drive the price of a critical healthcare product, insurance, through the roof.

As prices skyrocket, the liberal do-gooders rail against the flaws of the free market and demand a government take-over as the only solution, when of course, it is government which has distorted the marketplace in the first place.

To recap, Obama Mandates:

√ Usurp our freedom of religion.

√ Increase the cost of health insurance.

√ Jeopardize job security.

√ Increase the welfare rolls.

Obama deserves to be thrown out of office on the basis of his violation of our religious freedoms. If that’s not enough, he should be thrown out of office for mucking up the health insurance marketplace even more than government already has.

 

2 Comments

  1. maxine Bechtel on February 1, 2012 at 12:50 pm

    Thanks again, Tom! HOW much is it going to take to get that horrible piece of disaster repealed?? We MUST get rid of some of those deluded Senators in WA in order to get that done!! Hopefully, we can avoid all the voter fraud (for instance with ACORN and their front organizations) that took place 4 years ago! We can’t depend on Big Media to give an inch either! we CAN depend on our Loving God!



  2. instantrebate on February 1, 2012 at 4:17 pm

    The President, Barack Obama is now interested in getting every America citizen a job that he has publicly stated to “one” person to send him their resume so he can find him a job. Why stop there with only one person. Send the President your resume or someone you know who needs a job. Don’t let the Presidents T.V. photo op go to waste without taking advantage of this great opportunity to get a job that he promises us every day of the year.

    You can send your resume and a personal note to the President by going to http://sendyourresumetothewhitehouse.us Its FREE, easy and fun.

    Read more: Out of Work? Send Your Resume to Obama http://godfatherpolitics.com/3450/out-of-work-send-your-resume-to-obama/#ixzz1l9wS2snJ